Into the Void (The Godhunter, Book 10) (2 page)

“
How did I not know this?” I looked from Vidar to Roarke and back again.

“
You are not curious enough,” Roarke lifted a dark brow over a burning cat eye and crossed his arms over his T-shirt. It was strange to see him dressed so casually, in the Faerie realm he could be flamboyant. In fact, he'd been buying wild outfits in the Human Realm and wearing them back in Faerie to increase that flamboyance. Funny thing was, all those shiny shirts and rock star leggings fit right in with the faeries.

“
Azrael's the one I talk to the most,” I shook my head as Roarke stretched his lean frame upwards. “We've talked for hours.”

“
About his family?” Vidar looked skeptical.

“
I just assumed he'd tell me if he had any,” I frowned. What kind of woman doesn't ask about her boyfriend's family? I had a horrible clenching in my stomach. “I'm such an idiot and a bit of an asshole.”

“
Your words, my Queen,” Roarke smirked.

“
Tell me again why I enjoy having you around?” I grimaced at the cat-sidhe.

“
Because I'm all the fun of a cat in the body of a gorgeous man,” He struck a pose, hands on hips and chest extended.

“
No, that's not it,” I chewed my lip as he deflated.

“
Your words, they wound,” he held a hand to his chest. Sometimes having Roarke around was like living with an out of work Shakespearean actor. A very bawdy one.

“
Better than her claws,” Vidar shrugged and looked over to me. “So you'll tell Trevor?”

“
Tell Trevor what?” Trevor stepped into the room right on cue, looking amazing in a pair of worn jeans and a black T-shirt which read:
Guns don't kill people, Werewolves kill people.
His biceps strained the poor fabric and the words were a little stretched out from the muscles in his chest but he insisted the shirt fit him perfectly and who was I to argue when he looked so damn good? And that's not even mentioning his superb ass. I think it's a werewolf thing, I've yet to meet one with a flat ass.

“
I'll just take this back with me,” Vidar slid the book back in his bag and stood. “I'll let you know when I find anything useful, Mom.”

“
Okay, thank you,” I kissed him on the cheek and he left with a quick nod to Trevor. I looked meaningfully at Roarke but he just continued to stand there. “Roarke!”

“
What?” He blinked innocently.

“
Get out of here so I can talk to Trevor,” I snapped.

“
Well fine,” he huffed and stalked out, “I know when I'm not wanted.”

“
Evidently not,” I griped to his retreating back.

“
What's going on?” Trevor took a seat beside me on the couch.

“
I've kept something from you,” I sighed. “I didn't want you to think I'd lost my mind, or even that I didn't love you as much as I did Odin.”

“
You've been trying to find a way to bring him back,” he stated frankly.

“
How did you know?” I gaped at him.

“
Vervain,” he laughed. “We all know. Come on, we're not idiots. You like books and all but spending every free moment in the library is kind of excessive and then Estsanatlehi started visiting all the time and that clinched it. You both want to find your dead men.”

“
Well damn,” I sat back in relief. “I guess I should have told you sooner.”

“
Yeah, you should have,” he took my hand. “I know this has been hard for you, losing Odin not so long after you found him again, but maybe it's time to let him go.”

Let me go,
the dream echoed in my head.

“
But I think I've found something,” I held out Lucifer's book and flipped it to the page that talked about the Void. “I want to talk to Lucifer.”

“
Vervain,” Trevor sighed. “Even if he can tell you about the Void, even if you can find a way to get there without killing yourself, how are you going to bring Odin back with you?”

“
That' where Odin's book comes in,” I gestured to the open door, “the one Vidar just took with him. It's the book Odin used to bring me back from Hvergelmir.”

“
Are you sure he'd
want
you to bring him back?” Trevor asked after a long pause.

I died so you could live.

“Would
you
want me to bring you back if I could?” I countered.

“
I don't know,” Trevor frowned. “Our relationship is so much more different than any of your others. I'm bonded to you, I'll follow you into death when you die but if I were to die first? I don't know, maybe I'd want you to bring me back. Living without you would be unbearable, I doubt being dead without you would be much different.”

“
Thank you,” I squeezed his hand, “for the honest answer. So now do you see why I can't give up on him? I would do the same for you, I've already gone into Hell for you.”

“
Technically you went into Niflheim,” he gave me a cheeky grin, “I wouldn't want to think of you actually going into my Aunt Hel. That sounds a bit messy... or pornographic. Both options kind of disgust me.”

“
Gross,” I scrunched up my face at him. “I try to say something romantic to you and you make it gross.”

“
I know you love me enough to go through Hell for me,” he let go of my hand so he could slide his arm around my back and pull me closer. “I'm just not sure if Odin would want you risking yourself to save him. I mean, he died to keep you alive and now you want to risk your life to bring him back?”

“
It doesn't have to be like that,” I frowned, Trevor was echoing my dream perfectly. Had it been a dream or had Odin found a way to reach out to me and warn me? “I'll be careful and get all the information before I do anything.”

“
Promise me,” Trevor met my eyes with serious intensity. “I know you always say you can't live your life worried about the ties you have with others but it should be something that you take into consideration. You have a lot of people that would be worse off without you here. If nothing else, Odin's death should have shown you that. Odin knew when he placed himself between you and that blade that he was dying for all of us, not just you. Don't let his sacrifice be for nothing.”

“
I know,” I burrowed into his chest, placing my ear against him so I could hear his heartbeat. “As much as I refuse to run away from a fight simply because my death would hurt others, I've never been one to actively seek danger either. I promise I'll be as careful as possible and if it looks too dangerous, I won't do it.”

“
Thank you,” he sighed. “So you gonna ask Azrael to introduce you to his father?”

“
Does everyone know that Lucifer is Azrael's father except me?” I sat up straight and looked at Trevor with horrified eyes.

“
Pretty much,” Trevor shrugged. “He's the Angel of Death, who did you think fathered him?”

“
I don't know,” I pouted. “He never told me.”

“
You should have asked.”

“
I guess I should have,” I sighed.

“
I'm just messing with you, Minn Elska,” Trevor laughed. “I didn't know about Azrael's dad either, Roarke told me.”

“Azrael, you home?” I called out as I walked through the hallway of Azrael's home in Shehaquim, the third Heaven. That's the one between corruptibility and incorruptibility. Yeah, I know, I didn't understand it either when Azrael told me.

“
In here,” Azrael called and I followed his voice down the hallway he used as a gallery, and into his office.

“
Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting,” I stopped short in the doorway when I saw he had company.

There were three other angels besides Azrael in the room, seated in chairs in front of Azrael's big wooden desk. Azrael was seated behind it, looking very serious and very beautiful. He was in a light blue dress shirt and black slacks, very unusual for Az, he was normally more casual. The other angels were just as nicely dressed, though in my opinion they couldn't hold a candle to Az. They all had amazing charisma though, making the priceless paintings mounted on the walls and the ancient sculptures set around the room on pedestals, fade into the background like so much junk.

Michael I knew already, he winked at me when he saw me, tossing his golden hair like a surfer boy. Next to him was a young man with golden brown hair and hazel eyes that looked me over like he was inspecting a new type of fungus. The last angel had dark brown hair and eyes even darker than that, darker than sin, which was kind of ironic I guess. He had a face I would sooner call severe than handsome. He was definitely attractive but in a vicious, apathetic kind of way. Hey, some women like that, I don't judge.

Their wings made the large space seem much smaller, even with them pulled in tight to their backs. They were fascinating, each pair was different. Azrael's were jet black, so black that it seemed to absorb the other colors in the room, even the sunlight streaming in through the open curtains was conquered by the darkness of those wings. Michael's were white, an extreme opposite to Azrael's, and the boyish angel had dove gray wings, like Azrael's and Michael's had mixed. The last guy had wings which were the most unusual of the lot, white fading to pure gold at the tips.

“No, it's fine, Carus,” Azrael stood and the others stood with him, turning toward me so that I got the full potency of their impressive looks, complete with delicate tattoos of angelic script on their cheeks. “We were just finishing. I know you've met Michael,” he waved a hand toward Michael but the other angel was already beside me, giving me a hug.

“
Good to see you, Triple V,” Michael said as he pulled back.

“
Triple V?” I lifted a brow.

“
I heard about your triple trinities,” he nodded. “You're becoming a woman to watch.”

“
Oh no,” I waved my hands before me in a negating gesture. “Don't watch me, nothing to see here, people, just keep moving. I'm just an ordinary witch.”

“
Scary huh?” Michael laughed. “Lookin' over your shoulder a lot?”

“
In
all
the realms,” I rolled my eyes.

“
Well not in my territory,” Azrael said decisively and with a look aimed at the other two angels. “You'll be safe here, Carus, or there will be hell to pay.”

“
Quite literally,” Michael laughed and steered me toward the unknown angels, who looked like they'd say more to Azrael, if only I wasn't there. “Now Vervain, this is Gabriel,” Mike waved a hand to the youngest looking angel, the one with the gray wings. “Gabe, this is Vervain.”

“
Nice to meet you,” I held out my hand to him.

“
The Godhunter,” he said as he looked at my extended hand a moment before finally shaking it limply. I hate limp handshakes.

“
Yep, that's me.”

“
I expected you to be taller,” he looked down his nose at me. He was, of course, taller than I but that's hardly an accomplishment. At five foot three most everyone was taller than me and being only a few inches bigger than that, made Gabriel kind of short for a god.

“
And I expected you to be an adult,” I looked him up and down. “Have your balls even dropped yet?”

“
Holy Harbinger!” Michael laughed as he pounded Gabriel on the shoulder. “ She just verbally bitch slapped you.”

“
She's lovely, Azrael,” Gabriel said snidely, pulling his shoulder away from Michael's ministrations with the ease of one well practiced in the art.

“
And this is Raphael,” Azrael came forward to make the last introduction.

“
I've heard a lot of unusual things about you,” Raphael surprised me by holding a hand out to me first.

“
Yeah, that's my life,” I shook his hand. “Unusual. And now I'm shaking the hand of an archangel, one more unusual thing to add to the list. Which I guess makes it normal for me.”

“
Indeed,” his lips twitched just the smallest bit, reminding me a little of my fey husband, Arach.

“
Well, this has been swell,” Michael said with enforced gaiety.

“
But the swelling's gone down, right?” I smirked at him.

“
Right,” he winked at me again and followed the other angels out the door. “Catch you later, Triple V.”

“
See ya around, Big M,” I waved.

“
Big M,” I heard him say to the others as they walked out. “I kind of like that.”

“
It's two letters short of a fast food sandwich,” Raphael said drily.”

“
Damn it!” Michael swore. “Why do you always have to ruin everything for me?”

“
Always and everything,” Raphael sighed. “Could you be more dramatic? You sound like a child.”

Oh yeah, I think I could get used to Raphael.

“Carus,” Azrael waved a hand toward the chairs in front of his desk. I took one and he sat next to me. “What is it? Has something happened?”

“
I've been researching ways to bring Odin back,” I blurted out. “I found a book written by Lucifer which mentions the Void and implies that he's been there. Why haven't you ever told me he's your father?”

“
You've never told me about your father either,” he shrugged. “They just never came up, I guess.”

“
My father from this life died when I was eleven,” I felt horrible that we'd never talked about this. At least with Finn I had the excuse of not being his girlfriend. With Azrael, I was just a jerk. “The father from my last life died when I was very young too but I'm not sure when and I have no memories of him.”

I looked down at the beautiful ring on my right hand. The clear cabochon seemed to wink at me and I felt an instant connection to the father I didn't know. At least he'd known about me, cared about me even, to have left me the ring. Maybe I could go back sometime and meet him. The ring glowed warmly and I blinked at it in surprise. Go figure, it had an opinion.

“I'm sorry,” Azrael took my hand and a wave of comfort flowed through my tense limbs. “I can't imagine what it's like to grow up without a father.”

“
It's okay,” I shook my head. “Both of my mothers did what they thought was best for me. My mother in this life, surrounded me with so much love, I never knew the lack.”

“
That doesn't surprise me,” he huffed a small laugh. “She's a wonderful woman.”

“
Yeah, Odin did something right when he chose her,” I sighed. “Will you introduce me to your father?”

“
Of course,” he said without hesitation. “He's actually been asking to meet you.”

“
He has?”

“
Word has gotten around,” he looked a little sheepish.

“
I didn't happen to be the subject of this little meeting I just walked in on, was I?” I narrowed my eyes on him and he squirmed.

“
Some of the Angelic Host feel that you've become too unpredictable,” Azrael's jaw clenched and anger filled his face. It wasn't an emotion I saw there often so it kind of shocked me.

“
So I'm unpredictable,” I tried to laugh it off, “how is that a bad thing? At the very least, I don't think it's bad enough that a bunch of angels should be worried about it.”

“
They're not worried about you Vervain, it's your powers,” he sat back, letting go of my hand and withdrawing his comfort. “No one like you has ever existed and we have no idea what your capabilities are. That makes the angels nervous for numerous reasons.”

“
Like what?” Now I was getting mad. Who were they to be nervous about my powers? It's not like I was going to hunt them down... unless they were planning on doing something horrible. “Wait, are they bad angels? I mean, are they planning to do something to humanity that might convince me to hunt them?”

“
No, that's not it at all,” Az shook his head. “In fact, it's quite the opposite. We angels still have human belief backing us. People light candles for us everyday. Admittedly, candles are a small sacrifice but they add up and the energy we receive from humans makes us treasure them. We are indebted to your race and we feel very protective over them. It's our protective natures that have caused a problem with how they view you.”

“
They don't think I would ever harm humans, do they?” I was aghast. I'm called the Godhunter because I kill gods obviously. I don't kill humans.

“
I don't believe you could ever go that route, not unless it was necessary,” he leaned forward and took my hand again.

“
But they do.”

“
Some of them have brought up instances where power has served to corrupt humans,” he said gently.

“
Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” I quoted. “Maybe but I'm not just human anymore. I not only have two other races, I have a trove of good friends that will help keep me on track.”

“
These are some of the arguments I've employed,” he nodded. “Look, don't worry about it right now, Carus. They won't do anything to you as long as you have my support.”

“
Not anything they'll tell you about anyway,” I huffed. Great, now I had to worry about a host of avenging angels descending upon me for the crime of being who I was.

“
We share a bond now, a holy one,” he gave me a secret smile and I couldn't help but smile back, remembering our exchange of wine with Kirill. “I'd know if someone hurt you and if it was an angel, I'd know who did it.”

“
Well that's a groovy trick and all,” I smirked, “but what good is it if they kill me? Whether you know who did it or not at that point is moot.”

“
I was implying that the threat of me knowing should deter most angels,” Azrael's eyes shifted into sparkling diamonds and the angelic tattoo on his cheek started to glow blue. “I've made it very clear that my vengeance would be something to rival that of my father's.”

“
Your father's,” finally, this was the moment I should have had with him already. “Tell me about him, what do you mean by that?”

“
Oh, this is a long story,” Azrael stood up and held out a hand to me. “Perhaps some wine?”

“
Sure,” I let him lead me down the hall to the living room and took a seat while he poured us a couple glasses of holy wine. Hey, he had a river of it literally in his front yard, might as well make use of it.

“
Here you are,” he gave me a glass and took a seat beside me on the Victorian couch. “Now, are you sure you want to hear all of my family issues?”

“
Of course I do,” I huffed. “I feel like an asshole for not asking about this before.”

“
No,” he slid his leg up on the couch so he could angle himself to face me, looking a little like a millionaire playboy... except for the wings hanging over the back of the couch. “Don't feel badly. When we talk, we end up on tangents half the time and we just never followed one toward family. It's okay, my story isn't a happy one.”

“
I didn't ask for a happy story,” I turned sideways and rested my cheek against the wood carvings that bordered the top  of the couch. “I asked for your story.”

“
Alright,” he sighed. “Once upon a time there were three friends.”

“
Oh, nice touch, playing to my fey nature,” I grinned. The fey loved stories and the words
once upon a time
practically made them sit up and salivate.

“
I aim to please,” he shrugged and smiled. “So the three friends were very close, two men and a woman.”

“
Oh, that's not going to end well.”

“
Vervain,” he admonished.

“
Sorry, please continue.”

“
So as I was saying,” he shook his head. “Both of the men loved the woman very much.”

“
See, I told you,” I couldn't help myself. “Love triangle. Was one guy a werewolf and one a vampire?”